Pretend Tea Party
Alice in Wonderland spent an afternoon with the Maddest of Hatters. Bring learning and imagination together through the silliness of literary nonsense in Lewis Carroll’s infamous tea party!
1. Read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a novel written by the English author Lewis Carroll. Re-read and discuss the chapter about the Mad Hatter’s tea party. Pay special attention to the riddles that the friends in the story ask each other. While you work on creating your own tea party set, write down ideas for riddles! Alice and her friends had the silliest of all tea parties and now you can, too!
2. Begin by making cups and saucers out of Crayola Air-Dry Clay for every guest at your tea party. For easy clean up, sculpt on wax paper or paper plates. Use your imagination and think about what the Mad Hatter’s tea set might have looked like. Be creative to make your pretend tea party look like something right out of Wonderland!
3. Air-Dry Clay is easy to cut into shapes when rolled flat, so use scissors to cut out circles for saucers and details. You may even want to make a sweet make-believe treats such as miniature cup cakes!
4. Roll balls for the cups. Press your thumbs into the middle to shape the bowls. Roll snakes for dainty handles and press them on the cups. Dampen the clay so it will stick to itself.
5. Next, create unique cream and sugar containers. Make lids, spouts, and handles. And remember to sculpt the centerpiece of your tea party—the teapot! Teapots look different everywhere in the world, so think of original ways to create one that is imaginative. Air-dry your tea party set for at least 3 days.+
6. To add beautiful color and detail to your artwork, use Crayola Tempera Paint, Markers, and/or Glitter Glue. Be creative! Air-dry the decorations.
7. If you’d like a shiny glazed finish, mix equal amounts of water and Crayola School Glue. Brush it over your finished pieces. Air-dry your glaze overnight.
8. For a realistic look, tear brown construction paper into bits for make-believe tea! You’re ready to host a pretend tea party!
Adult supervision is required for any arts & crafts project. Observe children closely and intervene as necessary to prevent potential safety problems and ensure appropriate use of arts and crafts materials. Some craft items, particularly beads and buttons, are potential choking hazards for young children. Avoid use of such small parts with children younger than 3 years. Craft items such as scissors, push pins and chenille sticks may have sharp points or edges. Avoid use of materials with sharp points by children younger than 4 years. Read all manufacturers' safety warnings before using arts and craft supplies.
Glitter Glue—
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD—Small parts. Not for children under 3 years. Not for use on skin.
Crayola Modeling Materials including Crayola Model Magic®, and Model Magic Fusion™, Crayola Air-Dry Clay, and Crayola Dough—
- Keep away from open flames. Do not use to make candleholders, hot plates, trivets, or other similar objects that will be used or placed near fire and other heat sources.
- Do not put in an oven, microwave, or kiln.
- Do not make into vessels/containers that will hold unpackaged food.
- The use of modeling material to make items that look like food is discouraged for children younger than age 5 to avoid their confusion with real food.
- Unless sealed with a water-resistant glaze, do not make projects exposed to or immersed in water, such as boats or outdoor bird feeders. They would disintegrate when exposed to moisture.
- Crayola Dough—contains gluten (wheat flour) as an ingredient.
- Crayola Air-Dry Clay, Crayola Model Magic and Model Magic Fusion are gluten-free. However, they are produced on the same machinery as Crayola Dough which does contain gluten. Although the machines are cleaned prior to the start of each production run, there is a slight possibility that trace amounts of gluten from Crayola Dough may be present in the other modeling compound products. For information regarding specific ingredients or allergic concerns, please call our Consumer Affairs department at 1-800-272-9652 weekdays between 9 AM and 4 PM Eastern Standard Time.
Crayola Washable Paints—Not for use as body/face paint.
Food-Related Crafts—Art materials should not be used on food, if these foods are intended to be eaten. Art materials should not be used to make or decorate containers intended to hold edible food if the food would be in contact with the art material.
Modeling Tools—Use the least dangerous point or edge sufficient to do the job. For example, craft sticks, plastic knives and forks, and cookie cutters can cut or carve modeling materials.
Scissors—ATTENTION: The cutting edges of scissors are sharp and care should be taken whenever cutting or handling. Blunt-tip scissors should be used only by children 4 years and older. Pointed-tip scissors should be used only by children 6 years and older.
- Students demonstrate mathematical connections to the story by inventing card games for classmates to play.
- Solve and write riddles to build logic. Children can analyze each other’s riddles. Ask students to vote on the most challenging riddle!
- Some students with special needs can benefit by the motor-skill development that comes from working with clay. Suggest that students take their clay home and connect to the story by working with an adult to hold a unique tea party.
- Students watch the movie "Alice in Wonderland," compare and contrast the movie and the book, and discuss the genre of literary nonsense. Children then write their own stories or plays.
- Children create Alice in Wonderland puppets, write a script for a puppet show, and give a presentation for families at Grandparents’ Day or for younger classrooms.
- Assessment: Children will be successful if they sculpt and decorate an imaginary tea set including a cup, saucer, teapot, and cream and sugar
Big Foot Bar Graph
Around-the-World Storytellers
Word Worms: Spelling or Vocab Game
